Deion/Irvin NFC championship interference

[Diehardblues]

Part of me agrees with you, but at the same time I think there would be a lot of controversy over where to draw that line between whether the interference was “strong and clear” or if it was too minor a level of intereference to cause a change in the call. To me it would have to be either interference or not, period, rather than adding an extra, middle of the road layer of interpretation based on whether it was blatant interference or minor interference.

The other thing is, it really wouldn’t be fair to allow a review of a non call on PI, and not allow a review on a called interference that was a bad call. If it’s reviewable you have to give the defense the same chance to challenge a PI call as the offense.

Good stuff but ultimately PI is a judgement call in which it’s going to be difficult to determine an absolute ruling in every situation. There’s always going to be a grey area.

 

[Diehardblues]

Just to clarify, I'm talking about allowing a team to call for a review on a play and throwing flags for any non-calls.

They have the technology to review all plays in real time and flag, or pick up, any blatant errors. That would allow the whole game to be consistently called. It may be consistently bad, but it would be consistent .

I’m fine with allowing the sidelines to review but I’m not sure the fans need to have the same access.

 

[OmerV]

Good stuff but ultimately PI is a judgement call in which it’s going to be difficult to determine an absolute ruling in every situation. There’s always going to be a grey area.

That’s true of many PI situations, although obviously some are blatant. That’s why I don’t know that the kind of replay we are talking about is going to satisfy people. There would always be controversy between why this one was overturned and that one wasn’t. It could be another of those “was it a football move or wasn’t it” kind of things.

 

[Pantone282C]

4' Mark

Oh the pain of the past. SMH.

 

[CPanther95]

That’s true of many PI situations, although obviously some are blatant. That’s why I don’t know that the kind of replay we are talking about is going to satisfy people. There would always be controversy between why this one was overturned and that one wasn’t. It could be another of those “was it a football move or wasn’t it” kind of things.

That's why I'd prefer the same standard applied every play, not just on selective "reviewed" plays or only at the end of game.

We know some crews allow a lot more physicality between CBs and WRs, and some call every ticky-tac contact. Teams then adjust based on what's allowed. I'd hate to see my team lose out on 2 TDs in the first 3 Qtrs where my WRs were mugged, then lose because at the end of the game a similar play got reviewed and the replay official flags my CB after the fact because he had a stricter standard on PI.

 

[Diehardblues]

That’s true of many PI situations, although obviously some are blatant. That’s why I don’t know that the kind of replay we are talking about is going to satisfy people. There would always be controversy between why this one was overturned and that one wasn’t. It could be another of those “was it a football move or wasn’t it” kind of things.

There’s never going to be total satisfaction from judgement calls.

 

[OmerV]

There’s never going to be total satisfaction from judgement calls.

No, there’s not, which is why the NFL tried to reword the possession rule to take out as much of the need to make a judgement as possible. I’m not sure you can reword the PI rule to do the same, so you will still be left with drawing a line and people questioning why this one was overturned and this one wasn’t, and why some crews call PI more tightly or loosely than others.

 

[TheHerd]

I consider an eye in the sky just a ref with better vision. He can watch (or rewatch) whatever he wants and throw any flags he sees fit. Just do it all game and any flags "thrown" or picked up have to be before the next snap.

The conspiracy theorist in me would prefer that it be an actual on-site official, as a named part of the officiating crew - not a system handled at NFL HQ.

Exactly. Seems easy enough.

 

[kskboys]

The problem is that w/ new technology, the NFL is lagging is using and adjusting to technology.

Ban instant replay? Um...yeah, sure.

Of course you're never going to get every call right. No one is asking for that. However, if the NFL is wanting to maintain any sort of integrity, a flagrant foul such as the NO debacle must be corrected. We're not talking about two guys hand fighting down the field, or an arm or hand coming in a bit early. The WR was intentionally tackled before the ball got there. The defender admitted as much. There was no judgment call to be made, it was an intentional penalty, and the ref ignored it.

Once again, first figure out what in hades happened, then fire that ref. Then work on a solution to avoid in the future.

 

[TheSkaven]

I know that I’m in the minority here, but I’ll take a non-call over a ticky tacky call any day. I’d much rather see the referees let the players play. If that means letting a few PIs go per game, so-be-it.

There are way too many flags in today’s game and I’m afraid that this controversy is only going to make things worse.

And in that game, it was the 15-yard penalty on Switzer that was the real killer.

 

[PhillySpecial]

I think what makes that non-call seem worse than it was, was the viciousness of the hit. If you view the hit and timing of the hit as separate issues, maybe the uncalled PI isn't so blatant. And keep in mind the officials on the field aren't seeing what fans are seeing on instant replay. We see the view from the eye in the sky and different angles. Officials don't have that benefit. There's 3 things that happened on that play that are debatable. 1 Event that isn't.

I think there's some gray areas that are getting overlooked.

1. Putting aside the hit itself. And looking at just the timing. One could argue the defender and the ball arrived at the same time. If this is how the officials saw it, then no PI.
2. Was the ball catchable? If you think the ball wasn't catchable, then no PI (even if the defender did arrive before the ball).
3. The actual hit. There's no debate. That was blatant. Hitting a defenseless receiver should have been called.
4. Bushrod was blocking Brockers in the head. Also not called.

So at the very least, you have offsetting penalties and replay the down.

 

[StarBoyz83]

Nothing is THAT important that you should have different rules depending on what time of the game it is.

Is a missed TD because of a blown call with 2:05 left in the game any less devastating than one that occurs 5 seconds later?

Being a stealer fan you know all about blown calls!! Lol

 

[lostar2009]

4' Mark

To the young ones out there. It took Deion Sanders to PI to stop Aikman and Irvin back in the day. Aikman drop dimes all day. Irvin was a beast of a WR in his time.